It is that time of the year again. When the leaves starting changing colors and the wind holds the promise of the Autumn that is coming. (Who I am kidding I live in the desert. It is still hot). Children are getting ready to pick out their Halloween costumes. As a little girl I was always a witch, which is probably why I associate Autumn with witches. This month we are paying homage to the wonderful Autumny witch. Hag by Kathleen Kaufman Bunny by Mona Awad Catfish Lullaby by A.C. Wise The Good House by Tanarive Due Grimly Jane by Elle Alexander A Hawk in The Woods by Carrie Laben…

W is for Witching: An Analysis of the Hawthorne Name and Identity By Stephanie M. Wytovich The Salem Witch Trails took place in February of 1692 and lasted until May of 1693. This bout of hysteria began in a small colony in Massachusetts due to the accusations of Elizabeth Paris, Ann Putnam and Abigail Williams, all of who started having fits and unexplainable episodes that evoked suspicion of the supernatural. Eventually, these girls informed two judges—Johnathan Corwin and John Hathorne—that their illnesses were caused by the afflictions of three women: Tituba (a slave), Sarah Osborne (an elderly woman), and Sarah Good (a beggar). Now most of us know the escalation…

August is body horror month here at the LOHF. The team has put together a list of recommendations of amazing body horror books. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste Bunny by Mona Awad Something Borrowed, Something Blood Soaked by Christa Carmen Cruel Works of Nature by Gemma Amor The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes Paper Tigers by Damien Angelica Walters Everything That’s Underneath by Kristi DeMeester Geek Love by Katherine Dunn Wilder Girls by Rory Power Love For Slaughter by Sara Tantlinger Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt Like Jagged Teeth By Betty…

August is Women in Translation month. It is a celebration of stories written by women that have been translated into English. The role of translation in a literary context is to take the story from its original language and translate it into English for publishing in the English speaking countries. That sounds amazing, right? We would be able to read all the amazing stories from around the world. Well, that isn’t necessarily the case. When you really start to look at the numbers, they are dismal. Only 3% of the books published in the United States are translated stories. Whereas, in Europe that number is 10 times higher. Now, before…

Bodies are a horror show.* Slice open our bumpy, hairy surfaces, and bright reds, deep purples, and fatty yellows spill out. Inside, we are weird and squishy and complicated, and oh-so-much more fragile than we wish we were. We are our bodies. No shit, huh? But give me a second here. There are at least three different ways this statement is true, and each of them will provoke a fear response if threatened. First, and most straightforwardly, we are our bodies in the corporeal sense: without them we die. Second, we depend on our bodies for our identity, for who we think we are and for how we present ourselves…

Join Toni as she explores two different types of Body Horror in Tracy Fahey’s The Black Dog and Gabriela Houston’s Kozitka. About Tracy Fahey Tracy Fahey is an Irish writer of Gothic fiction. In 2017, her debut collection The Unheimlich Manoeuvre was shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award. Two of her short stories were long listed by Ellen Datlow for Honourable Mentions inThe Best Horror of the Year Volume 8. In 2018 she co-edited The Black Room Manuscripts IVwhich was nominated for a Splatterpunk Award for Best Anthology in 2019. She is published in over twenty Irish, US and UK anthologies and her work has been reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement. Her first novel, The Girl in the…

The type of horror that can be described as ‘body horror’ is astronomical in scope. A quick google search tells you that horror novels as disparate as Frankenstein and Coraline are considered body horror by one website or another, and when you take a few moments to really think about it, most subcategories within the overarching genre could be loosely classified as body horror. The following is a list of why we—horror fans and regular humans alike, because let’s face it, even alleged horror haters have ogled a gnarly rash on their own, formerly pristine skin or stared in morbid fascination at the growing sphere of their or their partner’s baby bump—love body…

This Undeniable Skin: The Grotesque and Lovely Wonders of Body Horror by Gwendolyn Kiste Flesh. Sinew. Bone. Muscle. Nails. Blood. These bodies we occupy are simultaneously beautiful and horrifying. It’s so strange to me how much work is happening within this cage of my bones at every moment. All the heartbeats I never have to coax. All the breaths I never remember taking. It’s at once life-affirming and a little intimidating how much goes on without me ever having a say in it. This is part of the reason why body horror has long fascinated as well as repulsed me—in the best possible way, of course. From my first viewing…

The Ladies of Horror Fiction was recently asked if we would participate in the cover reveal for Velocities by Kathe Koja of course the answer was yes. Just look at that cover beauty. Synopsis: Kathe Koja’s second short fiction collection, Velocities, is dark, disturbing, and heartfelt. It includes thirteen stories, including two never before published, all flying at the speed of strange. Published from Meerkat Press: April 2020 About Kathy Koja: Kathe Koja is a writer, director and independent producer. Her work combines and plays with genres, from YA to contemporary to historical to horror. Her novels–including THE CIPHER, SKIN, BUDDHA BOY, TALK, and the UNDER THE POPPY trilogy–have won awards,…

Welcome to part 2 of the Ladies of Horror Fiction Presents Stories of Horror: Creatures. Tonight it is my great privilege to present Jungle Harvest by Chris Chesler. I want to thank everyone for their submissions for Creature. There were truly some fantastic stories. Before we get started with Jungle Harvest I want to let you know a bit about Chris Chesler. About Chris Chesler Chris has been writing dark fiction with a silver lining for some 20 years now, but has worked as a financial and legal business consultant before becoming a fulltime writer. She lives in a study somewhere in the Netherlands where she writes unless coaxed out…